Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel - Five boats to finish

by B2K Media on 7 Aug 2011 A rush of boats finished in the last six hours in the fifth annual Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht.

In IRC Division 1, Peter Millard’s super maxi Lahana is the provisional winner ahead of Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, third was Ocean Affinity, then Sailors with disAbilities Wot Eva.

In IRC Division 2, Chris Tyquin’s Farr 30 GOA/NOVA was provisionally the winner. She was six minutes ahead of Andrew Knight’s Mumm 36 modified Georgia Express on corrected time and 13 minutes ahead of Craig Coulsen’s Van de Stat 42 Trumpcard.

In the Performance Handicap Division 1 Wot Eva was four minutes ahead on corrected time ahead of Laurence Pidgeon’s Jutson 39 Sweethart with Tim McCall’s Archambault 40RC Arcadia in third.

Performance Handicap Division 2 is still wide open and with Too Impetuous still 35 nautical miles from the finish line she currently leads on corrected time, ahead of Georgia Express and Dream Lover both of whom are berthed at Keppel Bay Marina.

Dockside some interesting comments

GOA/NOVA - Skipper Chris Tyquin, quote from Darren 'Twirler' Jones

'It's a long race in a Farr 30 but we took advantage of cruising the wake of the bigger boats who towed us up the course. This race is quite tactical and being that we were one of the five Farr 30's we really had to stay focused for the entire time. Definitely happy to be the first Farr 30 home. We gave our ETA at the Tropic of Capricorn which was just over a minute out from our finish time. Can't complain'

GOA looks like a special for the Navigator’s Prize.

Sydney 38 Mondo - Ray Sweeney

'We were quite surprised with how much the breeze died down and then picked up again. Plenty of sail changes kept the crew pretty busy. Definitely a slow day coming into the finish today but we took advantage of the quiet sail, had a sleep. We had a few crew members feel the effect of the sloppy sea'

Arcadia - Tim McCall , 'Definitely disappointed that we shredded the 1.5a and couldn't fly the code zero from early on Saturday morning however all that's put aside because we just had a great time out there. I'm so lucky to be sailing with not only a great bunch of crew but also my three kids Bronson, Joshua and Lauren. Sailing into our own home waters is the best way to finish a yacht race. We will be back next year!'

Dream Lover - Rick Morgan - 'Great race. But my daughter Penny couldn't make it because she was too sick to sail so we are dedicating this pineapple to her.'

Patriot - Tony Love 'Welcome to the tropics! It's great to be back'

Five boats are still on the water, in ever softening conditions.

Clayton Debenham and Craig Ellis’ Sydney 36 Gauntlet, Greg Zyner’s Radford 12 Copernicus, Chris Morgan’s J130 Ragtime, John Finkins Millennium 390 and the 1983 Admiral’s Cup hero Too Impetuous a Holland 32 which has been lovingly restored by Rudy Webber.

Five boats have retired from the race. Southern Cross Yachting is motoring to Keppel Bay Marina and is close, while Sirocco arrived this afternoon. Blunderbuss has arrived in Bundaberg under motor and Meltemi is close to the same port. Asterix is now at Urangan. All crew are safe and well.

More to come.

Race Website - www.brisbanetokeppel.com

The Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race is part of Tourism Queensland’s Season of Sailing.

The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron is pleased to acknowledge the principal sponsors of the 2011 Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race; Club Marine, David Bray Yachts, Club Super, Morgan’s Seafood, Angove Family Winemakers, Bundaberg Rum and the Rockhampton Regional Council.

The race is hosted by Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with the support of Keppel Bay Marina and Keppel Bay Sailing Club.